Here are the safest car models for 2019

To help with your vehicle selection, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently
released its safety awards for 2019. Fifty-seven vehicles qualified for the Top Safety Pick Plus or Top Safety Pick award from the institute.

The highest ratings, the Top Safety Pick Plus designation, went to 30 “first-tier” vehicles that exhibited elite passenger-side protection in a crash as well as good-rated headlights.

Twenty-seven other “second-tier” winners qualified for acceptable or higher ratings during IIHS crash tests and nighttime headlight evaluations.

Cars and SUVs make up the majority of the awardees, according to the IIHS. Noticeably absent are microcars, minicars, and pickups.

Top Safety Pick Plus Awardees

The three criteria for Plus awards are:

1. Good ratings in the driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests
2. Advanced or superior ratings for front-crash prevention
3. Good headlight rating

Top Safety Pick Awardees

The four criteria for the Top Safety Pick Award are:

1. Good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests
2. Acceptable or good rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test
3. Advanced or superior ratings for front-crash prevention
4. Acceptable or good headlight rating

The IIHS test verification program expects the winner’s list to expand as new models are evaluated in 2019

This article originally published on Clark.com by Craig Johnson